Cong pays tributes to air warriors killed in AN-32 crash

The Congress Thursday paid tributes to the 13 people killed in the IAF aircraft crash in Arunachal Pradesh, saying the country shall remain indebted to their valiant contributions.

All 13 people on board the AN-32 aircraft which crashed in the state are dead, the IAF said after a team of rescuers searched the wreckage of the plane in a heavily forested mountainous terrain on Thursday.

An IAF official said there were no survivors from the crash of the AN-32 aircraft.

"My salutations and tribute to the air warriors of @IAF_MCC who lost their precious lives in the AN-32 aircraft. Extremely saddened. My deepest condolences to the families of our brave men. Nation shall forever remain indebted to their valiant contributions," Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala tweeted.

Those who died in the crash are Wing Commander G M Charles, Squadron Leader H Vinod, Flight Lieutenants L R Thapa, MK Garg, Ashish Tanwar and Sumit Mohanty, Warrant officer K K Mishra, Sergeant Anoop Kumar, Corporal Sherin, LAC (leading aircraft man) S K Singh, LAC Pankaj, and non combatants Rajesh Kumar and Putali.

The Russian-origin AN-32 aircraft was going from Jorhat in Assam to Menchuka advanced landing ground near the border with China on June 3 when it lost contact around half-an-hour after taking off.

The wreckage of the plane was spotted by an IAF chopper on Tuesday at a height of 12,000 ft near Gatte village on the border of Siang and Shi-Yomi districts, after eight days of a massive search operation involving a fleet of aircraft and choppers as well as ground forces.